Database Management System or DBMS in short refers to the technology of storing and

retrieving usersí data with utmost efficiency along with appropriate security measures. This
tutorial explains the basics of DBMS such as its architecture, data models, data schemas, data
independence, E-R model, relation model, relational database design, and storage and file
structure and much more.

Why to Learn DBMS?

Traditionally, data was organized in file formats. DBMS was a new concept then, and all the
research was done to make it overcome the deficiencies in traditional style of data
management. A modern DBMS has the following characteristics −
 Real-world entity − A modern DBMS is more realistic and uses real-world entities to
design its architecture. It uses the behavior and attributes too. For example, a school
database may use students as an entity and their age as an attribute.
 Relation-based tables − DBMS allows entities and relations among them to form
tables. A user can understand the architecture of a database just by looking at the table
names.
 Isolation of data and application − A database system is entirely different than its
data. A database is an active entity, whereas data is said to be passive, on which the
database works and organizes. DBMS also stores metadata, which is data about data,
to ease its own process.
 Less redundancy − DBMS follows the rules of normalization, which splits a relation
when any of its attributes is having redundancy in values. Normalization is a
mathematically rich and scientific process that reduces data redundancy.
 Consistency − Consistency is a state where every relation in a database remains
consistent. There exist methods and techniques, which can detect attempt of leaving
database in inconsistent state. A DBMS can provide greater consistency as compared
to earlier forms of data storing applications like file-processing systems.
 Query Language − DBMS is equipped with query language, which makes it more
efficient to retrieve and manipulate data. A user can apply as many and as different
filtering options as required to retrieve a set of data. Traditionally it was not possible
where file-processing system was used.

Applications of DBMS
Database is a collection of related data and data is a collection of facts and figures that can be
processed to produce information.
Mostly data represents recordable facts. Data aids in producing information, which is based on
facts. For example, if we have data about marks obtained by all students, we can then
conclude about toppers and average marks.
A database management system stores data in such a way that it becomes easier to retrieve,
manipulate, and produce information. Following are the important characteristics and
applications of DBMS.
 ACID Properties − DBMS follows the concepts of Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation,
and Durability (normally shortened as ACID). These concepts are applied on
transactions, which manipulate data in a database. ACID properties help the database
stay healthy in multi-transactional environments and in case of failure.
 Multiuser and Concurrent Access − DBMS supports multi-user environment and
allows them to access and manipulate data in parallel. Though there are restrictions on
 transactions when users attempt to handle the same data item, but users are always
unaware of them.
 Multiple views − DBMS offers multiple views for different users. A user who is in the
Sales department will have a different view of database than a person working in the
Production department. This feature enables the users to have a concentrate view of the
database according to their requirements.
 Security − Features like multiple views offer security to some extent where users are
unable to access data of other users and departments. DBMS offers methods to impose
constraints while entering data into the database and retrieving the same at a later
stage. DBMS offers many different levels of security features, which enables multiple
users to have different views with different features. For example, a user in the Sales
department cannot see the data that belongs to the Purchase department. Additionally,
it can also be managed how much data of the Sales department should be displayed to
the user. Since a DBMS is not saved on the disk as traditional file systems, it is very
hard for miscreants to break the code.

DATABASE ARCHITECTURE

The design of a DBMS depends on its architecture. It can be centralized or decentralized or

hierarchical. The architecture of a DBMS can be seen as either single tier or multi-tier. An n-tier
architecture divides the whole system into related but independent n modules, which can be
independently modified, altered, changed, or replaced.
In 1-tier architecture, the DBMS is the only entity where the user directly sits on the DBMS and
uses it. Any changes done here will directly be done on the DBMS itself. It does not provide
handy tools for end-users. Database designers and programmers normally prefer to use single-
tier architecture.
If the architecture of DBMS is 2-tier, then it must have an application through which the DBMS
can be accessed. Programmers use 2-tier architecture where they access the DBMS by means
of an application. Here the application tier is entirely independent of the database in terms of
operation, design, and programming.

3-tier Architecture
A 3-tier architecture separates its tiers from each other based on the complexity of the users
and how they use the data present in the database. It is the most widely used architecture to
design a DBMS.

Presentation Tier

Application Tier

Database Tier

 Database (Data) Tier − At this tier, the database resides along with its query processing
languages. We also have the relations that define the data and their constraints at this
level.
  Application (Middle) Tier − At this tier reside the application server and the programs
that access the database. For a user, this application tier presents an abstracted view of
the database. End-users are unaware of any existence of the database beyond the
application. At the other end, the database tier is not aware of any other user beyond
the application tier. Hence, the application layer sits in the middle and acts as a
mediator between the end-user and the database.
 User (Presentation) Tier − End-users operate on this tier and they know nothing about
any existence of the database beyond this layer. At this layer, multiple views of the
database can be provided by the application. All views are generated by applications
that reside in the application tier.
Multiple-tier database architecture is highly modifiable, as almost all its components are
independent and can be changed independently.
DBMS-DATA MODEL

Data models define how the logical structure of a database is modelled. Data Models are
fundamental entities to introduce abstraction in a DBMS. Data models define how data is
connected to each other and how they are processed and stored inside the system.
The very first data model could be flat data-models, where all the data used are to be kept in
the same plane. Earlier data models were not so scientific, hence they were prone to introduce
lots of duplication and update anomalies.

Entity-Relationship Model
Entity-Relationship (ER) Model is based on the notion of real-world entities and relationships
among them. While formulating real-world scenario into the database model, the ER Model
creates entity set, relationship set, general attributes and constraints.
ER Model is best used for the conceptual design of a database.
ER Model is based on −
 Entities and their attributes.
 Relationships among entities.
These concepts are explained below.

 Entity − An entity in an ER Model is a real-world entity having properties

called attributes. Every attribute is defined by its set of values called domain. For
example, in a school database, a student is considered as an entity. Student has
various attributes like name, age, class, etc.
 Relationship − The logical association among entities is called relationship.
Relationships are mapped with entities in various ways. Mapping cardinalities define the
number of association between two entities.
Mapping cardinalities −

o one to one
 o one to many
o many to one
o many to many

Relational Model
The most popular data model in DBMS is the Relational Model. It is more scientific a model
than others. This model is based on first-order predicate logic and defines a table as an n-ary
relation.

The main highlights of this model are −

 Data is stored in tables called relations.

 Relations can be normalized.
 In normalized relations, values saved are atomic values.
 Each row in a relation contains a unique value.
 Each column in a relation contains values from a same domain.

Database Schema
A database schema is the skeleton structure that represents the logical view of the entire
database. It defines how the data is organized and how the relations among them are
associated. It formulates all the constraints that are to be applied on the data.
A database schema defines its entities and the relationship among them. It contains a
descriptive detail of the database, which can be depicted by means of schema diagrams. It’s
the database designers who design the schema to help programmers understand the database
and make it useful.
A database schema can be divided broadly into two categories −
 Physical Database Schema − This schema pertains to the actual storage of data and
its form of storage like files, indices, etc. It defines how the data will be stored in a
secondary storage.
 Logical Database Schema − This schema defines all the logical constraints that need
to be applied on the data stored. It defines tables, views, and integrity constraints.

Database Instance
It is important that we distinguish these two terms individually. Database schema is the
skeleton of database. It is designed when the database doesn't exist at all. Once the database
is operational, it is very difficult to make any changes to it. A database schema does not
contain any data or information.
A database instance is a state of operational database with data at any given time. It contains
a snapshot of the database. Database instances tend to change with time. A DBMS ensures
that its every instance (state) is in a valid state, by diligently following all the validations,
constraints, and conditions that the database designers have imposed.

Data Independence
A database system normally contains a lot of data in addition to users’ data. For example, it
stores data about data, known as metadata, to locate and retrieve data easily. It is rather
difficult to modify or update a set of metadata once it is stored in the database. But as a DBMS
expands, it needs to change over time to satisfy the requirements of the users. If the entire
data is dependent, it would become a tedious and highly complex job.
Metadata itself follows a layered architecture, so that when we change data at one layer, it
does not affect the data at another level. This data is independent but mapped to each other.

Logical Data Independence

Logical data is data about database, that is, it stores information about how data is managed
inside. For example, a table (relation) stored in the database and all its constraints, applied on
that relation.
Logical data independence is a kind of mechanism, which liberalizes itself from actual data
stored on the disk. If we do some changes on table format, it should not change the data
residing on the disk.

Physical Data Independence

All the schemas are logical, and the actual data is stored in bit format on the disk. Physical
data independence is the power to change the physical data without impacting the schema or
logical data.
For example, in case we want to change or upgrade the storage system itself − suppose we
want to replace hard-disks with SSD − it should not have any impact on the logical data or
schemas.

he ER model defines the conceptual view of a database. It works around real-world entities
and the associations among them. At view level, the ER model is considered a good option for
designing databases.
ER MODELS-BASIC CONCEPTS

Entity
An entity can be a real-world object, either animate or inanimate, that can be easily identifiable.
For example, in a school database, students, teachers, classes, and courses offered can be
considered as entities. All these entities have some attributes or properties that give them their
identity.
An entity set is a collection of similar types of entities. An entity set may contain entities with
attribute sharing similar values. For example, a Students set may contain all the students of a
school; likewise a Teachers set may contain all the teachers of a school from all faculties.
Entity sets need not be disjoint.

Attributes
Entities are represented by means of their properties, called attributes. All attributes have
values. For example, a student entity may have name, class, and age as attributes.
There exists a domain or range of values that can be assigned to attributes. For example, a
student's name cannot be a numeric value. It has to be alphabetic. A student's age cannot be
negative, etc.
Types of Attributes
 Simple attribute − Simple attributes are atomic values, which cannot be divided further.
For example, a student's phone number is an atomic value of 10 digits.
 Composite attribute − Composite attributes are made of more than one simple
attribute. For example, a student's complete name may have first_name and last_name.
  Derived attribute − Derived attributes are the attributes that do not exist in the physical
database, but their values are derived from other attributes present in the database. For
example, average_salary in a department should not be saved directly in the database,
instead it can be derived. For another example, age can be derived from data_of_birth.
 Single-value attribute − Single-value attributes contain single value. For example −
Social_Security_Number.
 Multi-value attribute − Multi-value attributes may contain more than one values. For
example, a person can have more than one phone number, email_address, etc.
These attribute types can come together in a way like −

 simple single-valued attributes

 simple multi-valued attributes
 composite single-valued attributes
 composite multi-valued attributes
Entity-Set and Keys
Key is an attribute or collection of attributes that uniquely identifies an entity among entity set.
For example, the roll_number of a student makes him/her identifiable among students.
 Super Key − A set of attributes (one or more) that collectively identifies an entity in an
entity set.
 Candidate Key − A minimal super key is called a candidate key. An entity set may have
more than one candidate key.
 Primary Key − A primary key is one of the candidate keys chosen by the database
designer to uniquely identify the entity set.

Relationship
The association among entities is called a relationship. For example, an employee works_at a
department, a student enrolls in a course. Here, Works_at and Enrolls are called relationships.
Relationship Set
A set of relationships of similar type is called a relationship set. Like entities, a relationship too
can have attributes. These attributes are called descriptive attributes.
Degree of Relationship
The number of participating entities in a relationship defines the degree of the relationship.

 Binary = degree 2
 Ternary = degree 3
 n-ary = degree
Mapping Cardinalities
Cardinality defines the number of entities in one entity set, which can be associated with the
number of entities of other set via relationship set.
 One-to-one − One entity from entity set A can be associated with at most one entity of
entity set B and vice versa.
  One-to-many − One entity from entity set A can be associated with more than one
entities of entity set B however an entity from entity set B, can be associated with at
most one entity.

 Many-to-one − More than one entities from entity set A can be associated with at most
one entity of entity set B, however an entity from entity set B can be associated with
more than one entity from entity set A.

 Many-to-many − One entity from A can be associated with more than one entity from B
and vice versa.

Let us now learn how the ER Model is represented by means of an ER diagram. Any object, for
example, entities, attributes of an entity, relationship sets, and attributes of relationship sets,
can be represented with the help of an ER diagram.

ER Diagram Representation
Entity
Entities are represented by means of rectangles. Rectangles are named with the entity set they
represent.

Attributes
Attributes are the properties of entities. Attributes are represented by means of ellipses. Every
ellipse represents one attribute and is directly connected to its entity (rectangle).
If the attributes are composite, they are further divided in a tree like structure. Every node is
then connected to its attribute. That is, composite attributes are represented by ellipses that
are connected with an ellipse.

Multivalued attributes are depicted by double ellipse.

Derived attributes are depicted by dashed ellipse.

Relationship
Relationships are represented by diamond-shaped box. Name of the relationship is written
inside the diamond-box. All the entities (rectangles) participating in a relationship, are
connected to it by a line.
Binary Relationship and Cardinality
A relationship where two entities are participating is called a binary relationship. Cardinality is
the number of instance of an entity from a relation that can be associated with the relation.
 One-to-one − When only one instance of an entity is associated with the relationship, it
is marked as '1:1'. The following image reflects that only one instance of each entity
should be associated with the relationship. It depicts one-to-one relationship.

 One-to-many − When more than one instance of an entity is associated with a

relationship, it is marked as '1:N'. The following image reflects that only one instance of
 entity on the left and more than one instance of an entity on the right can be associated
with the relationship. It depicts one-to-many relationship.

 Many-to-one − When more than one instance of entity is associated with the
relationship, it is marked as 'N:1'. The following image reflects that more than one
instance of an entity on the left and only one instance of an entity on the right can be
associated with the relationship. It depicts many-to-one relationship.

 Many-to-many − The following image reflects that more than one instance of an entity
on the left and more than one instance of an entity on the right can be associated with
the relationship. It depicts many-to-many relationship.

Participation Constraints
 Total Participation − Each entity is involved in the relationship. Total participation is
represented by double lines.
 Partial participation − Not all entities are involved in the relationship. Partial
participation is represented by single lines.

Generalization Aggregation
The ER Model has the power of expressing database entities in a conceptual hierarchical
manner. As the hierarchy goes up, it generalizes the view of entities, and as we go deep in the
hierarchy, it gives us the detail of every entity included.
Going up in this structure is called generalization, where entities are clubbed together to
represent a more generalized view. For example, a particular student named Mira can be
generalized along with all the students. The entity shall be a student, and further, the student is
a person. The reverse is called specialization where a person is a student, and that student is
Mira.

Generalization
As mentioned above, the process of generalizing entities, where the generalized entities
contain the properties of all the generalized entities, is called generalization. In generalization,
a number of entities are brought together into one generalized entity based on their similar
characteristics. For example, pigeon, house sparrow, crow and dove can all be generalized as
Birds.
Specialization
Specialization is the opposite of generalization. In specialization, a group of entities is divided
into sub-groups based on their characteristics. Take a group ‘Person’ for example. A person
has name, date of birth, gender, etc. These properties are common in all persons, human
beings. But in a company, persons can be identified as employee, employer, customer, or
vendor, based on what role they play in the company.

Similarly, in a school database, persons can be specialized as teacher, student, or a staff,

based on what role they play in school as entities.

Inheritance
We use all the above features of ER-Model in order to create classes of objects in object-
oriented programming. The details of entities are generally hidden from the user; this process
known as abstraction.
Inheritance is an important feature of Generalization and Specialization. It allows lower-level
entities to inherit the attributes of higher-level entities.

For example, the attributes of a Person class such as name, age, and gender can be inherited
by lower-level entities such as Student or Teacher.

RELATIONAL DATABASE
Relational data model is the primary data model, which is used widely around the world for
data storage and processing. This model is simple and it has all the properties and capabilities
required to process data with storage efficiency.

Concepts
Tables − In relational data model, relations are saved in the format of Tables. This format
stores the relation among entities. A table has rows and columns, where rows represents
records and columns represent the attributes.
Tuple − A single row of a table, which contains a single record for that relation is called a tuple.
Relation instance − A finite set of tuples in the relational database system represents relation
instance. Relation instances do not have duplicate tuples.
Relation schema − A relation schema describes the relation name (table name), attributes,
and their names.
Relation key − Each row has one or more attributes, known as relation key, which can identify
the row in the relation (table) uniquely.
Attribute domain − Every attribute has some pre-defined value scope, known as attribute
domain.

Constraints
Every relation has some conditions that must hold for it to be a valid relation. These conditions
are called Relational Integrity Constraints. There are three main integrity constraints −

 Key constraints
 Domain constraints
 Referential integrity constraints
Key Constraints
There must be at least one minimal subset of attributes in the relation, which can identify a
tuple uniquely. This minimal subset of attributes is called key for that relation. If there are more
than one such minimal subsets, these are called candidate keys.
Key constraints force that −
 in a relation with a key attribute, no two tuples can have identical values for key
attributes.
 a key attribute can not have NULL values.

Key constraints are also referred to as Entity Constraints.

Domain Constraints
Attributes have specific values in real-world scenario. For example, age can only be a positive
integer. The same constraints have been tried to employ on the attributes of a relation. Every
attribute is bound to have a specific range of values. For example, age cannot be less than
zero and telephone numbers cannot contain a digit outside 0-9.
Referential integrity Constraints
Referential integrity constraints work on the concept of Foreign Keys. A foreign key is a key
attribute of a relation that can be referred in other relation.
Referential integrity constraint states that if a relation refers to a key attribute of a different or
same relation, then that key element must exist.

DBMS - Normalization

Functional Dependency
Functional dependency (FD) is a set of constraints between two attributes in a relation.
Functional dependency says that if two tuples have same values for attributes A1, A2,..., An,
then those two tuples must have to have same values for attributes B1, B2, ..., Bn.
Functional dependency is represented by an arrow sign (→) that is, X→Y, where X functionally
determines Y. The left-hand side attributes determine the values of attributes on the right-hand
side.

Armstrong's Axioms
If F is a set of functional dependencies then the closure of F, denoted as F +, is the set of all
functional dependencies logically implied by F. Armstrong's Axioms are a set of rules, that
when applied repeatedly, generates a closure of functional dependencies.
 Reflexive rule − If alpha is a set of attributes and beta is_subset_of alpha, then alpha
holds beta.
 Augmentation rule − If a → b holds and y is attribute set, then ay → by also holds. That
is adding attributes in dependencies, does not change the basic dependencies.
 Transitivity rule − Same as transitive rule in algebra, if a → b holds and b → c holds,
then a → c also holds. a → b is called as a functionally that determines b.

Trivial Functional Dependency

 Trivial − If a functional dependency (FD) X → Y holds, where Y is a subset of X, then it
is called a trivial FD. Trivial FDs always hold.
 Non-trivial − If an FD X → Y holds, where Y is not a subset of X, then it is called a non-
trivial FD.
 Completely non-trivial − If an FD X → Y holds, where x intersect Y = Φ, it is said to be
a completely non-trivial FD.

Normalization
If a database design is not perfect, it may contain anomalies, which are like a bad dream for
any database administrator. Managing a database with anomalies is next to impossible.
 Update anomalies − If data items are scattered and are not linked to each other
properly, then it could lead to strange situations. For example, when we try to update
one data item having its copies scattered over several places, a few instances get
updated properly while a few others are left with old values. Such instances leave the
database in an inconsistent state.
 Deletion anomalies − We tried to delete a record, but parts of it was left undeleted
because of unawareness, the data is also saved somewhere else.
 Insert anomalies − We tried to insert data in a record that does not exist at all.
Normalization is a method to remove all these anomalies and bring the database to a
consistent state.

First Normal Form

First Normal Form is defined in the definition of relations (tables) itself. This rule defines that all
the attributes in a relation must have atomic domains. The values in an atomic domain are
indivisible units.
We re-arrange the relation (table) as below, to convert it to First Normal Form.

Each attribute must contain only a single value from its pre-defined domain.

Second Normal Form

Before we learn about the second normal form, we need to understand the following −
 Prime attribute − An attribute, which is a part of the candidate-key, is known as a prime
attribute.
 Non-prime attribute − An attribute, which is not a part of the prime-key, is said to be a
non-prime attribute.
If we follow second normal form, then every non-prime attribute should be fully functionally
dependent on prime key attribute. That is, if X → A holds, then there should not be any proper
subset Y of X, for which Y → A also holds true.

We see here in Student_Project relation that the prime key attributes are Stu_ID and Proj_ID.
According to the rule, non-key attributes, i.e. Stu_Name and Proj_Name must be dependent
upon both and not on any of the prime key attribute individually. But we find that Stu_Name
can be identified by Stu_ID and Proj_Name can be identified by Proj_ID independently. This is
called partial dependency, which is not allowed in Second Normal Form.
We broke the relation in two as depicted in the above picture. So there exists no partial
dependency.

Third Normal Form

For a relation to be in Third Normal Form, it must be in Second Normal form and the following
must satisfy −

 No non-prime attribute is transitively dependent on prime key attribute.

 For any non-trivial functional dependency, X → A, then either −
o X is a superkey or,
o A is prime attribute.

We find that in the above Student_detail relation, Stu_ID is the key and only prime key
attribute. We find that City can be identified by Stu_ID as well as Zip itself. Neither Zip is a
superkey nor is City a prime attribute. Additionally, Stu_ID → Zip → City, so there
exists transitive dependency.
To bring this relation into third normal form, we break the relation into two relations as follows −

Boyce-Codd Normal Form

Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF) is an extension of Third Normal Form on strict terms. BCNF
states that −

 For any non-trivial functional dependency, X → A, X must be a super-key.

In the above image, Stu_ID is the super-key in the relation Student_Detail and Zip is the super-
key in the relation ZipCodes. So,
Stu_ID → Stu_Name, Zip
and
Zip → City
Which confirms that both the relations are in BCNF.

DBMS-Joins
We understand the benefits of taking a Cartesian product of two relations, which gives us all
the possible tuples that are paired together. But it might not be feasible for us in certain cases
to take a Cartesian product where we encounter huge relations with thousands of tuples having
a considerable large number of attributes.
Join is a combination of a Cartesian product followed by a selection process. A Join operation
pairs two tuples from different relations, if and only if a given join condition is satisfied.
We will briefly describe various join types in the following sections.

Theta (θ) Join

Theta join combines tuples from different relations provided they satisfy the theta condition.
The join condition is denoted by the symbol θ.
Notation
R1 ⋈θ R2
R1 and R2 are relations having attributes (A1, A2, .., An) and (B1, B2,.. ,Bn) such that the
attributes don’t have anything in common, that is R1 ∩ R2 = Φ.
Theta join can use all kinds of comparison operators.

Student

SID Name Std

101 Alex 10

102 Maria 11

Subjects

Class Subject

10 Math

10 English
 11 Music

11 Sports

Student_Detail −
STUDENT ⋈Student.Std = Subject.Class SUBJECT
Student_detail

SID Name Std Class Subject

101 Alex 10 10 Math

101 Alex 10 10 English

102 Maria 11 11 Music

102 Maria 11 11 Sports

Equijoin
When Theta join uses only equality comparison operator, it is said to be equijoin. The above

Natural Join (⋈)

example corresponds to equijoin.

Natural join does not use any comparison operator. It does not concatenate the way a
Cartesian product does. We can perform a Natural Join only if there is at least one common
attribute that exists between two relations. In addition, the attributes must have the same name
and domain.
Natural join acts on those matching attributes where the values of attributes in both the
relations are same.

Courses

CID Course Dept

CS01 Database CS

ME01 Mechanics ME
EE01 Electronics EE

HoD

Dept Head

CS Alex

ME Maya

EE Mira

Courses ⋈ HoD

Dept CID Course Head

CS CS01 Database Alex

ME ME01 Mechanics Maya

EE EE01 Electronics Mira

Outer Joins
Theta Join, Equijoin, and Natural Join are called inner joins. An inner join includes only those
tuples with matching attributes and the rest are discarded in the resulting relation. Therefore,
we need to use outer joins to include all the tuples from the participating relations in the
resulting relation. There are three kinds of outer joins − left outer join, right outer join, and full
outer join.

Left Outer Join(R S)

All the tuples from the Left relation, R, are included in the resulting relation. If there are tuples
in R without any matching tuple in the Right relation S, then the S-attributes of the resulting
relation are made NULL.

Left

A B

100 Database
101 Mechanics

102 Electronics

Right

A B

100 Alex

102 Maya

104 Mira

Courses HoD

A B C D

100 Database 100 Alex

101 Mechanics --- ---

102 Electronics 102 Maya

Right Outer Join: ( R S)

All the tuples from the Right relation, S, are included in the resulting relation. If there are tuples
in S without any matching tuple in R, then the R-attributes of resulting relation are made NULL.

Courses HoD

A B C D

100 Database 100 Alex

102 Electronics 102 Maya

--- --- 104 Mira

Full Outer Join: ( R S)

All the tuples from both participating relations are included in the resulting relation. If there are
no matching tuples for both relations, their respective unmatched attributes are made NULL.

Courses HoD

A B C D

100 Database 100 Alex

101 Mechanics --- ---

102 Electronics 102 Maya

--- --- 104 Mira

DBMS-INDEXING

We know that data is stored in the form of records. Every record has a key field, which helps it
to be recognized uniquely.
Indexing is a data structure technique to efficiently retrieve records from the database files
based on some attributes on which the indexing has been done. Indexing in database systems
is similar to what we see in books.
Indexing is defined based on its indexing attributes. Indexing can be of the following types −
 Primary Index − Primary index is defined on an ordered data file. The data file is
ordered on a key field. The key field is generally the primary key of the relation.
 Secondary Index − Secondary index may be generated from a field which is a
candidate key and has a unique value in every record, or a non-key with duplicate
values.
 Clustering Index − Clustering index is defined on an ordered data file. The data file is
ordered on a non-key field.
Ordered Indexing is of two types −

 Dense Index
 Sparse Index

Dense Index
In dense index, there is an index record for every search key value in the database. This
makes searching faster but requires more space to store index records itself. Index records
contain search key value and a pointer to the actual record on the disk.

Sparse Index
In sparse index, index records are not created for every search key. An index record here
contains a search key and an actual pointer to the data on the disk. To search a record, we first
proceed by index record and reach at the actual location of the data. If the data we are looking
for is not where we directly reach by following the index, then the system starts sequential
search until the desired data is found.

Multilevel Index
Index records comprise search-key values and data pointers. Multilevel index is stored on the
disk along with the actual database files. As the size of the database grows, so does the size of
the indices. There is an immense need to keep the index records in the main memory so as to
speed up the search operations. If single-level index is used, then a large size index cannot be
kept in memory which leads to multiple disk accesses.
Multi-level Index helps in breaking down the index into several smaller indices in order to make
the outermost level so small that it can be saved in a single disk block, which can easily be
accommodated anywhere in the main memory.

B Tree
+

A B tree is a balanced binary search tree that follows a multi-level index format. The leaf nodes
+

of a B tree denote actual data pointers. B tree ensures that all leaf nodes remain at the same
+ +

height, thus balanced. Additionally, the leaf nodes are linked using a link list; therefore, a
B tree can support random access as well as sequential access.
+

Structure of B Tree +

Every leaf node is at equal distance from the root node. A B tree is of the order n where n is
+

fixed for every B tree.

+

Internal nodes −

 Internal (non-leaf) nodes contain at least ⌈n/2⌉ pointers, except the root node.
 At most, an internal node can contain n pointers.
Leaf nodes −

 Leaf nodes contain at least ⌈n/2⌉ record pointers and ⌈n/2⌉ key values.
 At most, a leaf node can contain n record pointers and n key values.
 Every leaf node contains one block pointer P to point to next leaf node and forms a linked list.
B Tree Insertion
+

 B trees are filled from bottom and each entry is done at the leaf node.
+

 If a leaf node overflows −

Partition at i = ⌊(m+1) ⌋.
Split node into two parts.
o
o /2

First i entries are stored in one node.

o
Rest of the entries (i+1 onwards) are moved to a new node.
o
i key is duplicated at the parent of the leaf.
o th

 If a non-leaf node overflows −

o Partition the node at i = ⌈(m+1) ⌉.

o Split node into two parts.
/2

o Entries up to i are kept in one node.

o Rest of the entries are moved to a new node.

B Tree Deletion
+

 B tree entries are deleted at the leaf nodes.

+

 The target entry is searched and deleted.

o If it is an internal node, delete and replace with the entry from the left position.
 After deletion, underflow is tested,
o If underflow occurs, distribute the entries from the nodes left to it.
 If distribution is not possible from left, then
o Distribute from the nodes right to it.
 If distribution is not possible from left or from right, then
o Merge the node with left and right to it.

DBMS-HASHING

For a huge database structure, it can be almost next to impossible to search all the index
values through all its level and then reach the destination data block to retrieve the desired
data. Hashing is an effective technique to calculate the direct location of a data record on the
disk without using index structure.
Hashing uses hash functions with search keys as parameters to generate the address of a
data record.

Hash Organization
 Bucket − A hash file stores data in bucket format. Bucket is considered a unit of storage.
A bucket typically stores one complete disk block, which in turn can store one or more
records.
 Hash Function − A hash function, h, is a mapping function that maps all the set of
search-keys K to the address where actual records are placed. It is a function from
search keys to bucket addresses.

Static Hashing
In static hashing, when a search-key value is provided, the hash function always computes the
same address. For example, if mod-4 hash function is used, then it shall generate only 5
values. The output address shall always be same for that function. The number of buckets
provided remains unchanged at all times.

Operation
 Insertion − When a record is required to be entered using static hash, the hash
function h computes the bucket address for search key K, where the record will be
stored.
Bucket address = h(K)
 Search − When a record needs to be retrieved, the same hash function can be used to
retrieve the address of the bucket where the data is stored.
 Delete − This is simply a search followed by a deletion operation.

Bucket Overflow
The condition of bucket-overflow is known as collision. This is a fatal state for any static hash
function. In this case, overflow chaining can be used.
 Overflow Chaining − When buckets are full, a new bucket is allocated for the same
hash result and is linked after the previous one. This mechanism is called Closed
Hashing.
  Linear Probing − When a hash function generates an address at which data is already
stored, the next free bucket is allocated to it. This mechanism is called Open Hashing.

Dynamic Hashing
The problem with static hashing is that it does not expand or shrink dynamically as the size of
the database grows or shrinks. Dynamic hashing provides a mechanism in which data buckets
are added and removed dynamically and on-demand. Dynamic hashing is also known
as extended hashing.
Hash function, in dynamic hashing, is made to produce a large number of values and only a
few are used initially.
Organization
The prefix of an entire hash value is taken as a hash index. Only a portion of the hash value is
used for computing bucket addresses. Every hash index has a depth value to signify how many
bits are used for computing a hash function. These bits can address 2n buckets. When all
these bits are consumed − that is, when all the buckets are full − then the depth value is
increased linearly and twice the buckets are allocated.

Operation
 Querying − Look at the depth value of the hash index and use those bits to compute the
bucket address.
 Update − Perform a query as above and update the data.
 Deletion − Perform a query to locate the desired data and delete the same.
 Insertion − Compute the address of the bucket
o If the bucket is already full.
 Add more buckets.
 Add additional bits to the hash value.
 Re-compute the hash function.
o Else
 Add data to the bucket,
o If all the buckets are full, perform the remedies of static hashing.
Hashing is not favorable when the data is organized in some ordering and the queries require a
range of data. When data is discrete and random, hash performs the best.
Hashing algorithms have high complexity than indexing. All hash operations are done in
constant time.
Different Types of Keys in Relational Model

(1) Candidate Key: The minimal set of attributes that can uniquely identify a tuple is
known as a candidate key. For Example, STUD_NO in STUDENT relation.

 The value of the Candidate Key is unique and non-null for every tuple.
 There can be more than one candidate key in a relation. For Example, STUD_NO is
the candidate key for relation STUDENT.
 The candidate key can be simple (having only one attribute) or composite as well.
For Example, {STUD_NO, COURSE_NO} is a composite candidate key for relation
STUDENT_COURSE.
 No of candidate keys in a Relation are nC(floor(n/2)),for example if a Relation have
5 attributes i.e. R(A,B,C,D,E) then total no of candidate keys are 5C(floor(5/2))=10.
Note – In SQL Server a unique constraint that has a nullable column, allows the value
‘null‘ in that column only once. That’s why the STUD_PHONE attribute is a candidate
here, but can not be ‘null’ values in the primary key attribute.
(2) Super Key: The set of attributes that can uniquely identify a tuple is known as
Super Key. For Example, STUD_NO, (STUD_NO, STUD_NAME), etc.

 Adding zero or more attributes to the candidate key generates the super key.
 A candidate key is a super key but vice versa is not true.
(3) Primary Key: There can be more than one candidate key in relation out of which
one can be chosen as the primary key. For Example, STUD_NO, as well as
STUD_PHONE both, are candidate keys for relation STUDENT but STUD_NO can be
chosen as the primary key (only one out of many candidate keys).
(4) Alternate Key: The candidate key other than the primary key is called an alternate
key. For Example, STUD_NO, as well as STUD_PHONE both, are candidate keys for
relation STUDENT but STUD_PHONE will be an alternate key (only one out of many
candidate keys).
(5) Composite Key A key that consists of more than one attribute to uniquely identify rows
(also known as records & tuples) in a table is called composite key
(6) Foreign Key: If an attribute can only take the values which are present as values of
some other attribute, it will be a foreign key to the attribute to which it refers. The
relation which is being referenced is called referenced relation and the corresponding
attribute is called referenced attribute and the relation which refers to the referenced
relation is called referencing relation and the corresponding attribute is called
referencing attribute. The referenced attribute of the referenced relation should be the
primary key for it. For Example, STUD_NO in STUDENT_COURSE is a foreign key to
STUD_NO in STUDENT relation.
It may be worth noting that unlike, Primary Key of any given relation, Foreign Key can
be NULL as well as may contain duplicate tuples i.e. it need not follow uniqueness
constraint.
For Example, STUD_NO in STUDENT_COURSE relation is not unique. It has been
repeated for the first and third tuples. However, the STUD_NO in STUDENT relation is
a primary key and it needs to be always unique and it cannot be null.